London firms Denton Wilde Sapte and Simmons & Simmons have announced double-digit growth in turnover for the first half of the financial year.
Denton Wilde saw revenue increase by 10 percent for the most recent six-month period, while profits jumped by 24 percent. Simmons, meanwhile, said fee income had increased by 16 percent compared to the equivalent period last year.The percentage increase put Denton Wilde on a par with firms including Lovells, Eversheds and Pinsent Masons but behind London rivals including Norton Rose, SJ Berwin, CMS Cameron McKenna and Herbert Smith, which all achieved improvements of more than 20 percent.Denton Wilde chief executive Howard Morris commented: “These figures show the success of our continuing focus on driving a balanced, healthy and profitable business.”The firm said its international network �- focused around the key emerging markets of the Middle East, Russia and Africa -� had made a significant contribution to the results.Simmons and Denton Wilde both declined to cite exact revenue figures, releasing only percentage increases. Simmons posted full-year revenues of �250.6 million ($516.2 million) for 2006-07, while Denton Wilde’s turnover hit �155.7 million ($320.9 million).Simmons’ growth comes as the firm aims to boost its profits per equity partner from last year’s figure of �530,000 ($1.09 million) to �600,000 ($1.24 million).Commenting on the firm’s H1 performance, Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins said: “We are yet to notice any significant impact on our business from the summer’s credit crunch. Current work levels remain high but the ongoing uncertainty means the firm cannot become complacent.”The results come with many leading firms sounding a note of caution for the second half of the financial year, which many believe will be more challenging given current market conditions.
